What - and who - defines us: Weapons and Pete Hegseth, or arts and Lynda Topp?

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

Dave Armstrong is a playwright and satirist based in Wellington. He is a regular opinion contributor.

OPINION: Despite being a professional writer, my qualifications don’t reflect that. No journalism degree, and all I can show for five years of university is a bachelor’s degree in musical performance and a BA in music history. I am the Nicola Willis of journalism.

While some people weren’t happy with last week’s Budget, the last reason to criticise Willis, and her predecessor Bill English, is because they have degrees in English literature. There’s nothing wrong with being an unqualified success.

While thousands of Kiwis were protesting the Springbok Tour, I was ensconced in the old Hunter Building at Victoria University studying music. Occasionally I ventured out to play trumpet with an orchestra or band. During the early eighties I played with a visiting Auckland band who often teamed up with an emerging folk duo called the Topp Twins.

They performed brilliantly. My memories are dim, but I can remember a meal at the Settlement where Jools and Lynda taught everyone there to hang teaspoons from their noses. It was a riot.

A few days later the twins asked me if I would give them a trumpet lesson. They had acquired an old horn and wanted to use it in a show. They’d apparently wanted to learn at school but didn’t because of the “pervy” old guy who taught brass. I obliged, and in between the sound of serious cellos and studious flutes, hysterical laughter and unrestrained blasts emanated from the Hunter Building as Jools and Lynda attempted to play a brass instrument. They achieved more in one lesson than most students would in five. I can still do the teaspoon on the nose trick and fondly remembered our lesson when Jools’ death was announced last week.

Only days after, Lynda paid tribute to her twin at the Aotearoa Music Awards. She also blasted the government for its Budget louder than any trumpet player could.

The media reported Lynda’s scolding then sought reactions from her targets, such as Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith. But there has been little analysis of what she said – that the arts are vital to this country and define us, yet the Government is cutting arts budgets while pouring ever-increasing dollars into defence spending.

But even this is not enough for the US. At a Singapore security conference last weekend, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who does not have a degree in English literature but holds a master of public policy, criticised New Zealand for “freeloading” off the US military by not spending enough on defence.

Defence Minister Chris Penk rightly pointed out that it’s not just the amount you spend on defence which makes you a good ally, but I fear New Zealand’s future defence policy will become known as “Kowtowing is US”.

New Zealand has a right-wing government that is being criticised by the US for not spending enough on defence, while Australia’s left-wing government is being praised by Pete Hegseth for its considerable defence spending.

But are the Aussies getting bang for their defence buck? They famously cancelled their contract with the French for new submarines in favour of the US – think Nicola and the ferries deal but the ferries are subterranean, have lots of weapons and are nuclear powered. Toyota Corollas they are not. But now the US military-industrial complex is so busy with rearming after the Iranian debacle that the “new” submarines are going to be second-hand.

Most of our upcoming $12 billion defence spend is with US-built weapons and systems. Will we get state-of-the-art equipment or “sorry, we’re too busy restocking after Iran so here’s some reconditioned stuff that worked great in Afghanistan in 2006”?

The other day I ran into a friend who was there in the Hunter building back in the 1980s practising away with all the other music students. He’s retired now but music keeps him thoroughly busy. He’d just bought a fantastic new trombone. Where was it made, I wondered, knowing that prestige brands are mainly from the US and Europe. It was from China and cost a fifth of the US models but apparently played just as well.

Perhaps Chris Penk would consider going through our defence spending, examine the famously expensive costs of US military equipment, and consider substituting it with some cheaper Chinese models that would do the job just as well for less than half the price. Ah, but China, who has not been involved in a war outside their borders for over 40 years, is the whole reason we are currently bingeing on defence spending.

I don’t think diplomacy is dead. I don’t think cosying up to Trump’s regime and massively increasing our defence spending will make the Pacific safer, and nor do most of our former prime ministers.

Cutting the latest defence spending by half would give us billions to address the cost of living, child poverty, education spending that is not just workbooks, and yes, the arts, because the arts, as Lynda Topp said so eloquently - not weapons, for Pete’s sake - define who we are as a nation.